Student digital information‐seeking behaviour in context
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides evidence on the actual information‐seeking behaviour of students in a digital scholarly environment, not what they thought they did. It also compares student information‐seeking behaviour with that of other academic communities, and, in some cases, for practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered as part of CIBER's ongoing Virtual Scholar programme. In particular log data from two digital journals libraries, Blackwell Synergy and OhioLINK, and one e‐book collection (Oxford Scholarship Online) are utilized.
Findings
The study showed a distinctive form of information‐seeking behaviour associated with students and differences between them and other members of the academic community. For example, students constituted the biggest users in terms of sessions and pages viewed, and they were more likely to undertake longer online sessions. Undergraduates and postgraduates were the most likely users of library links to access scholarly databases, suggesting an important “hot link” role for libraries.
Originality/value
Few studies have focused on the actual (rather than perceived) information‐seeking behaviour of students. The study fills that gap.
Keywords
Citation
Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Jamali, H.R., Rowlands, I. and Fieldhouse, M. (2009), "Student digital information‐seeking behaviour in context", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 65 No. 1, pp. 106-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410910926149
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited